Revised 2008

racismnoun

Meaning & use
Etymology
Pronunciation
Frequency
Compounds & derived words

Nearby entries

Quotations

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Factsheet

What does the noun racism mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun racism. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

See meaning & use

How common is the noun racism?

About 9occurrences per million words in modern written English

1900	0.0049
1910	0.0057
1920	0.022
1930	0.15
1940	0.29
1950	0.8
1960	2.5
1970	4.3
1980	7.4
1990	9.6
2000	12
2010	12

See frequency

How is the noun racism pronounced?

British English

/ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/

RAY-siz-uhm

U.S. English

/ˈreɪˌsɪzəm/

RAY-siz-uhm

See pronunciation

Where does the noun racism come from?

Earliest known use

1900s

The earliest known use of the noun racism is in the 1900s.

OED's earliest evidence for racism is from 1903, in Proceedings 20th Ann. Meeting Lake Mohonk Conf. Friends of Indian 1902.

racism is formed within English, by derivation; perhaps modelled on a French lexical item.

Etymons: race n.6, -ism suffix.

See etymology

Nearby entries

racing pigeon, n.1877–
racing plate, n.1795–
racing stripe, n.1899–
racing tail, n.1796–1851
racing-tailed, adj.1843
Racinian, adj. & n.1865–
racino, n.1995–
raciological, adj.1950–
raciologist, n.1939–
raciology, n.1924–
racism, n.1903–
racist, n. & adj.1919–
rack, n.¹Old English–1561
rack, n.²c1300–
rack, n.³1328–
rack, n.⁴1343–
rack, n.⁵1358–
rack, n.⁶1566–
rack, n.⁷1570–
rack, n.⁸1574–
rack, n.⁹1599–

Browse more nearby entries

Meaning & use

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Entry history for racism, n.

racism, n. was revised in June 2008

racism, n. was last modified in July 2023

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into racism, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of racism, n. were published in:

A Supplement to the OED, Volume III (1982)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

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View racism, n. in Second Edition

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Chicago

Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “”, . <>

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MLA9

“”. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, , <>

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